There are many types of harmonicas with the three principal types being the simple “diatonic” harmonica with its single row of typically ten numbered cavities/“holes” (FIGS. 1 and 2), the more complex slide chromatic with its characteristic button & slide mechanism (really two simple harmonicas built into one, activated by the slide) and the well known tremolo body with its double row of cavities (holes). Each cavity (hole) typically houses two differently pitched reeds (shown in FIGS. 1B and 1C with the designation rd)—one that reacts to the blow wind direction (↑) and the other that reacts to the draw wind direction (↓) which usually provide two separate notes of a harmonica's parent (primary) scale in the key of music the harmonica is said to be “tuned in”. Typically, the blow-oriented reeds are mounted (e.g. —with rivets, screws, spot welds or other means) to the upper (top) reed plate (FIG. 1B) and the draw-oriented reeds are similarly mounted on the bottom (lower) reed plate (FIG. 1C) and are represented in FIGS. 1B and 1C by black dots though in the case of FIG. 3, all the reeds typically are mounted to only one reed plate. These reed plates in all of the FIGURE drawings are represented by the designation RP in FIGS. 1 and 1A and the narrower-lined hatching and are covered by the integral top and bottom coverplates (represented by the designations CP in FIGS. 1 and 1A). These upper (top) and lower (bottom) coverplates project the sound of the instrument but most importantly are there to protect the reeds from being muted out by fingers or the hands of the player. All harmonicas must have these integral coverplates to function properly. Though they appear flat in most of the FIGURE drawings, the coverplates are actually curved in shape so as not to allow the motion of the reeds underneath to touch the coverplates and ruin the sound (see FIG. 1A). For all of the “front view” FIGURE drawings (1, 3-6 and 8) the designation bd (in FIGS. 1 and 1A) and the wider-lined hatching shows the body of a harmonica, typically made of wood or plastic, which forms the aforementioned cavities (holes) that inside house the reeds mounted on their respective reed boards. The cavities (holes) are represented in these same “front view” drawings by the designation ca (in FIG. 1) and the smaller “inside” blank white boxes in the body (not shown in FIGS. 2, 7, 9, 10 and 11 because of their “top or bottom view” perspectives). To complete its sandwich-like construction and by the way of example, the double black dots found on the far end “wings” of the coverplate in FIG. 2 and other “top or bottom views” of the FIGURE drawings represent the nails, screws or other fastening means that hold the whole assembly of the harmonica together. In FIG. 1 and other “front view” FIGURE drawings they are shown in low profile on the far end “wings” of both the upper (top) and lower (bottom) coverplates. In the case of the tremolo body with its doubled rows of cavities (holes) housing four different reeds, each reed is doubled in pitch in its partner cavity/hole (the stacking of cavities/holes) and set slightly out of tune with its same wind direction partner achieving the tremolo harmonica's characteristic oscillating tone and tremolo sound, the “French café accordion sound” (the accordion is tuned similarly). Some types even have these doubled notes tuned an octave apart which produces a wider, fuller sound. Though not shown in the FIGURE drawings, the present invention's system of note identification and location perfectly mates with these models as it does with other BLOW and DRAW models. The simple diatonic harmonica is the representative BLOW and DRAW model chosen to exemplify the present invention's concept.
Typically, each cavity (hole) of these types of harmonicas is identified on the upper (top) coverplate of the harmonica by a numeric label. This sequential system of numbers, typically in Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3 etc.), goes from left to right as shown in FIGS. 1 & 2 and corresponds to pitches from low to high. In this way, numbers are being used strictly to identify the location of a particular cavity (hole). While these numeric labels are critical for helping a performer locate a particular cavity (hole) and assist in the hand-eye coordination necessary to successfully position the embouchure on said cavity, they are not intrinsically useful in educating the music student in musical principles and their application to the learning of music in general and harmonica playing in particular. They don't tell the player what's actually found there in relation to music and the harmonica's musical structure & its tuning layout. However, there is a way to use numbers in a manner that is more musical and logical, and for the first time on a harmonica educational—for defining in relative terms the musical notes of any key; and to use those same numbers to indicate the cavity (hole) location of the notes on the harmonica. In doing so, it transforms the instrument from a performance tool into a self-teaching apparatus that simultaneously teaches the player the structure of music and where each note is found on the harmonica. That is the utility of the present invention.
These types of BLOW and DRAW-oriented harmonicas are available in the twelve different keys of music (i.e.—The Keys of A, A#/Bb, B, C, C#/Db, D, D#/Eb E, F, F#/Gb, G and G#/Ab), but for each key the internal progression of notes is generally the same. Each note and key of music is represented by a letter of the alphabet (i.e.—The Key of A is represented by its most important prime note, its tonic—the note of A. It's the same condition in principle for all of the twelve keys of music). The key of each harmonica is typically located on extreme far right hand side of the harmonica's upper (top) coverplate, as shown in FIG. 2 with the letter “C” representing the particular key the harmonica is said to be “tuned in”, though some manufacturers put it on the ends. These types of harmonicas are also manufactured in a number of different tuning layouts (schemes), each with a different kind of primary scale be it of minor or major tonality or a standard primary scale with one or two altered notes. They are also typically available in the twelve keys of music.
Other all-blow harmonica embodiments (not currently popular) typically have used these letters of the alphabet & letters of the chromatic scale as labeling in place of cavity (hole) numbers (FIG. 3). The standard bass harmonica, the polyphonia, the “chromatica” and other harmonica-like tuning pitch pipes (FIG. 3) are examples of this absolute, alpha (i.e.—in alphabetical order) type of system. The alpha labeling on these harmonicas serves a similar purpose as the cavity number labeling on the BLOW and DRAW embodiments, and that is to help the performer identify a particular cavity (hole) and assist in the hand-eye coordination necessary to successfully position the embouchure on the desired cavity. This labeling does not exploit the full potential of the diatonic harmonica and other BLOW and DRAW models to be used as musical education tools that can simplify the process of learning and studying music for the student. Letters don't show clearly the mathematical relationships of musical notes and intervals, the main ingredients of chords and songs. Numbers can and do this very well when used to describe degrees of the scale instead of just cavity (hole) location. With letters used to represent the scale, twelve different key/letter combinations have to be learned and memorized for the comprehension of “lettered” music. While this may be practical on a transpositional instrument such as the piano or saxophone for which a distinct playing pattern must be employed for each musical key, it is not ideal for the non-transpositional instrument such as the diatonic harmonica on which the same playing patterns will produce an identical musical performance but in a different key simply by playing on a harmonica pitched in that key. The number of musical relationships presented by the alpha system is twelve times greater than the number of relationships presented using the number system to represent the same musical patterns. The letter system of representing music is “key-dependent” (changes for each musical key) and does not lend itself well to the diatonic harmonica and other “keyed” BLOW and DRAW models, which are played using the same patterns for every key. The numeric system, on the other hand, is “key-independent” (remains exactly the same for each musical key) and applies ideally to the diatonic harmonica and the other “keyed” BLOW and DRAW models. One simply plays the same numeric patterns on harmonicas pitched in different keys to perform the same patterns in different keys. For this reason, these harmonicas have the potential to reduce the knowledge of relationships between pitches required to perform music by a factor of twelve. The present invention is designed to exploit this potential of the diatonic harmonica and other BLOW and DRAW models to be used as music educational tools.